DLZ News

Rosie, a massive 30-foot wide and 300-foot long tunnel boring machine, emerged in the fall of 2018 after a yearlong, 6,240-foot journey under downtown Akron, Ohio. This gigantic tunnel boring machine began building the 27-ft diameter Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel in August 2017.

The tunnel begins at Hickory Street in the Cascade Valley area and will end at W. Exchange Street near downtown Akron. Once complete, the underground tunnel will prevent sewage from reaching local waterways, storing 26-million gallons of combined sewer overflow, averaging 467 million gallons in an average year.

Most Americans take water for granted. They flush the toilet, and dirty water goes away. Many have never even thought about the infrastructure that brings water to their homes, and safely returns water to our environment. The reality is, our water infrastructure is aging and failing. While many cannot imagine a day without water, there are many communities that have lived, and are living, without water because they don’t have access to safe and reliable water systems.

Today, DLZ joins community leaders, businesses, and advocacy organizations across the nation to express our support of Imagine a Day Without Water, in an effort to educate the public about the water infrastructure crisis currently facing the United States.

One Day Without WaterImagine a day without water for one moment. It means no water to shower or flush the toilet, and no water to drink or cook with, no water to do laundry or dishes. A single nationwide day without water service would put $43.5 billion in economic activity at risk and would make it impossible for doctors, firefighters, and farmers to serve our communities. A day without water is a public health and safety crisis. Our water infrastructure supports every facet of our daily lives, but our water infrastructure is facing incredible challenges. Demographic and climate pressures, such as increased natural disasters, drought, flooding, and wildfire, threaten our infrastructure and increase the possibility of a day without water. These challenges look different to different communities and will require local solutions, but it’s clear that reinvestment in our water systems must be a national priority.

Investing in Water Infrastructure
Closing our nation’s water infrastructure gap would generate over $220 billion in total annual economic activity, create and sustain over a million jobs, and guarantee our public health and environmental safety. Americans widely support increased investment in our nation’s water infrastructure. National polling shows 88 percent of Americans support increasing federal investment to rebuild water infrastructure, and 75 percent of Americans want Congress to invest in our nation’s water infrastructure before our systems fail. No other issue facing our public officials has such a broad consensus, and 2018’s elections represent an opportunity to make sure water is top of mind for candidates.

There is no doubt about it – a day without water is a crisis. No community can thrive without water and every person deserves a safe, reliable, accessible water system.

Click here to learn how you can help educate the public about the water infrastructure crisis currently facing our communities.

DLZ is pleased to be ranked as one of the nation’s largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms by Building, Design & Construction. DLZ ranked #78 on the Architecture/Engineering Firms report (based on 2017 Arch/Eng revenue).

Building Design & Construction’s annual Giants 300 report ranks AEC firms by discipline and across more than 20 building sectors and specialty services. More than 480 U.S.-based architecture, engineering, and construction firms participated this year.

DLZ is pleased to announce that Gregory Galieti, AIA LEED AP joined the firm as Director of Architecture. Greg brings over 30 years of diverse experience in design and project management for commercial, educational, park, recreation and sport design.

Greg brings a wealth of leadership experience to the firm and has designed and managed projects for multiple corporate, county, and educational institutions in states throughout the Midwest.

As an Ohio native, Greg has an inherent background and understanding of the Ohio community. He grew up in northeast Ohio and received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Cincinnati. Greg is a Registered Architect in seven states, including Ohio and a LEED Accredited Professional.

Greg is looking forward to continuing to develop cohesive architectural and engineering projects in our region.

“Greg brings a wealth of experience and leadership to an already strong DLZ Architecture tradition” said Robert P. Kirkley, P.E., P.S., President.

Greg is based in DLZ’s Columbus, Ohio office and can be reached at ggalieti@dlz.com or 614.888.0040.

DLZ opened it’s 8,000 square foot office in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania earlier this year and is excited to support our clients’ increasing project needs. Since establishing our footprint in Pennsylvania in 2012, we continue to grow and provide engineering, surveying, geotechnical drilling, construction management and materials testing for a variety of infrastructure, utility, industrial and structural projects.

The Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference (OTEC) planning committee selected three DLZ abstracts for the conference held October 2 -3, 2018 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus. Join DLZ, along with Transportation officials, government and members of the academic community at OTEC — one of the nation’s largest transportation conferences. Visit us at booth #521/620.

Stephen Metzer, AICP, PWS

Avoiding the Wheelchair Rollercoaster and Other Fun Accessibility Issues in the Right-of-Way

Stephen Metzer, AICP, PWS, Senior Project Planner, will provide the latest status of the Proposed Accessibility Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way, developed by the US Access Board. Metzer will present examples of compliant and non-compliant situations and best practices for the design and construction of pedestrian facilities.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018 | SESSION 22 | ROOM A226
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

Christopher Dietz, PLS

3D Model Integration – From Design to Inspection and Construction

Christopher Dietz, PLS, Senior Project Manager, along with a contractor from Digital Tek Services Corporation, will discuss how the creation and use of 3D modeling in transportation design and construction continues to rapidly evolve. In recent years, FHWA has created programs to provide guidance and insight into the adoption of VDC (Virtual Design Construction) between DOT’s, designers, inspectors, and contractors utilizing GPS and 3D modeling technology.

Steven A. Jones, P.S., CFEDS, Survey & Right-of-Way Division Manager, and Matthew Roberts, Surveyor / Project Manager, will cover the implementation of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure projects, and how they fit into the future of infrastructure data management. They will show how UAS can be utilized through each stage of the process.

Engineering News Record Midwest selected the Olentangy Scioto Interceptor Augmentation and Relief Sewer (OARS) project for an Award of Merit in their 2018 Best Projects awards. The $370 million project was one of 40 winners from 106 entries in 11 states.

The 20-foot diameter, 23,300-foot long tunnel provides wet weather relief to the existing OSIS sewer, the main combined sewer through downtown Columbus, Ohio. Winners will be featured in the November edition of ENR midwest and honored at their annual awards breakfast in Chicago.

DLZ is proud to be named as one of the nation’s top engineering and architecture design firms. Engineering News-Record ranked DLZ No. 125 on their annual list of the industry’s Top 500 design firms, up 7 spots from 132 in 2017. One of the industry’s leading professional publications, ENR ranks firm based on design services revenue from the previous year.

DLZ was awarded Construction Advancement Foundation (CAF) Professional & Engineering Contractor of the Year from the Northwest Indiana Business RoundTable (NWIBRT). The council of local firms recognizes area companies with an outstanding commitment to workplace safety. Nearly 80 companies were represented at the CAF/NWIBRT Safety Awards Banquet, all of which have shown to excel in safety leadership.